The Christian Radical

The Quality of Mercy Is Not Capital Gain

2009-11-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

Mona Shaw
Lessons in Moral Courage
November 25, 2009

"Perception is reality. It doesn't matter what the facts are. We don't have time for the facts. We're going to do it the way people think it's best to do it."

My boss wasn't kidding. I had just presented him the research I had prepared that proved a plan he wanted me to implement would cost the department more not save funds as he had previously announced to his faculty. He was up for faculty review. The "plan" was popular among the faculty. If he implemented it, he would be viewed as responsive to their ideas. Educating them would be time-consuming, confusing, and might be misunderstood. I complied with his directive, of course, because, I, too, wanted to keep my job. The facts bore out. The plan cost more money, but rather than concede the plan was the problem, we invented another excuse for the outcome and then spent even more funds addressing the "problem" we had invented.

read the rest here

Where Did All of the Homeless Go?: Irvine’s Mysterious Transient Policy

2009-11-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

Stephanie Vatz
New University
November 23 2009

While the city of Laguna Beach recently won a lawsuit against the American Civil Liberties Union to move the homeless who slept on the beach to a new parking lot facility, the city of Irvine has a very different policy.

Laguna was once one of the few cities in the United States to allow people to sleep on the beach, but recently city homeless policies have changed.

read the rest here

New CW Website for CASA COLIBRI CATHOLIC WORKER in Hostotipaquillo, Jalisco, Mexico

2009-11-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

CASA COLIBRI CATHOLIC WORKER in Hostotipaquillo, Jalisco, Mexico
(sister house of the L.A.C.W.) has a new website/blog.

http://casacolibrimx.blogspot.com

Contact NUEVO CORREO at:
E-mail: jmhe76@gmail.com

December/January issue of the Catholic Radical - Worcester MA CW news letter

2009-11-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the Dec 2009/Jan 2010 issue of Worcester's own Catholic Radical:
http://www.archive.org/download/catholicradical/catholicradical_2009_12.pdf

Mike
http://www.pieandcoffee.org

and

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy <theresecw2@gmail.com>
Saints Francis and Therese Catholic Worker House
52 Mason St, Worcester MA 01610

Amy Goodman felt ‘violated’ by Canadian border officials

2009-11-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

David Edwards
The Raw Story
November 27th, 2009

A U.S. journalist was grilled by Canadian border officials for 90 minutes Wednesday. Officials demanded to know if Democracy Now's Amy Goodman was going to speak against hosting the Olympic games in Canada.

read the rest here

Claim: Pentagon tried to ‘intimidate’ journo covering Blackwater

2009-11-27T20:56:00.000-08:00

Daniel Tencer
The Raw Story
November 26th, 2009

The office of Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the highest-ranking soldier in the US, tried to intimidate a reporter working on a story about security contractor Blackwater's operations in Pakistan, the reporter claims.

read the rest here

Climate Protestors Face Sleeping in Prison Gyms

2009-11-27T20:54:00.000-08:00

Common Dreams
November 26 2009

Prisons prepare for an influx of detainees during the UN Climate Change Conference happening in two weeks

Overcrowding in the country's prisons means protestors arrested during the climate conference will be held in uncomfortable conditions.

Climate activists are gearing up for the UN Climate Change Conference in two weeks, but face harsh jail conditions if arrested.

Legislation was recently tightened to allow police to hold protestors for up to 40 days if they hinder police work and the already overstretched prison service is gearing up for new arrivals.

read the rest here

Gary McKinnon set to be sent to America after Alan Johnson says he cannot block extradition

2009-11-27T20:51:00.000-08:00

Gary McKinnon is set to be sent to America to answer computer hacking charges after Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, told his family that he could not block his extradition on medical grounds.

Christopher Hope and Andrew Porter
The London Telegraph
November 26 2009

Mr McKinnon’s family were notified of the Home Secretary’s decision this afternoon. Janis Sharp, Mr McKinnon’s mother, was distraught, telling The Daily Telegraph: “I can’t believe it. It is a complete nonsense.”

Keith Vaz MP, the chairman of the home affairs select committee which has pressed Mr Johnson directly not to extradite Mr McKinnon, said: “I am very disappointed at this decision. This is the wrong decision for the wrong reasons."

read the rest here

Who Wants to Buy CANDU's Risky Business?

2009-11-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

Canada is moving towards privatizing its federally owned reactor maker. Who might want in, and why? Second of two.

Amelia Bellamy-Royds
The Tyee
November 26 2009

Over the past few decades, governments in Canada have followed a steady pattern of privatization of services that were previously considered to be in the public interest.

Trains, planes, and automobiles (Translink buses, to be precise) all are now run by private corporations instead of the federal or provincial government, as is the telecommunication system.

Until this year, the federally-owned nuclear reactor maker Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) has avoided the privatization push. Now, the Conservative government is pursuing a plan to restructure that corporation, and is expected to sell at least a partial stake in AECL's CANDU reactor business to a new private partner.

read the rest here

2012: The Year of Sarahpocalypse

2009-11-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Saturday Night Live recently produced a fake film trailer of a movie called Palin 2012, an obvious parody of the doomsday film 2012. SNL's version captures what the world will be like if Sarah Palin is elected President (with Glenn Beck as her VP). On Countdown, Keith Olbermann sounds off on her apocalyptic political career, and what we can really expect in the future.

--Alana Levinson

Check out more great Nation videos on our YouTube channel.

What Sarah Palin's "Jewish people will be flocking to Israel" prediction really means

2009-11-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

Palin's associated with a religious tendency whose leaders promote anti-Jewish conspiracy theory

Bruce Wilson
Alternet
November 21, 2009

There's some acceptance that statements such as Sarah Palin's prediction that Jews will soon be "flocking to Israel" may indicate Palin holds apocalyptic beliefs. What's not understood is that she's closely associated with a religious tendency whose leaders promote anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, including one most commonly used by the Third Reich, in the 1930's and 1940's, to whip up anti-Semitic hatreds: the claim that a worldwide cabal of Jewish bankers manipulates the world economy and preys on working classes.

read the rest here

Twouble with Twitters: SuperNews!

2009-11-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

Get Ready for the Obama/GOP Alliance

2009-11-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

Jeff Cohen
After Downing Street
November 26 2009

With Obama pushing a huge troop escalation in Afghanistan, history may well repeat itself with a vengeance. And it’s not just the apt comparison to LBJ, who destroyed his presidency on the battlefields of Vietnam with an escalation that delivered power to Nixon and the GOP.

There’s another frightening parallel: Obama seems to be following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton, who accomplished perhaps his single biggest legislative “triumph” – NAFTA – thanks to an alliance with Republicans that overcame strong Democratic and grassroots opposition.

read the rest here

U.S. Enlists Allies in New Surge

2009-11-25T21:26:00.000-08:00

Americans Seek Up to 7,000 Extra NATO Troops for Ramp-Up in Afghanistan

PETER SPIEGEL and STEPHEN FIDLER
Wall Street Journal
November 23 2009

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is in advanced talks with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for a coordinated rollout of a new Afghan war strategy, which U.S. officials hope will include a commitment by European allies to send several thousand additional troops.

U.S. and European estimates of the new troops they may get from NATO allies vary from 3,000 to 7,000. Those would complement the additional U.S. forces Mr. Obama is considering; those options range from 10,000 to 40,000, but U.S. officials have said a combination of combat troops and training forces totaling 35,000 has gained the most momentum.

read the rest here

NSA helped with Windows 7 development

2009-11-25T21:24:00.000-08:00

Privacy expert voices 'backdoor' concerns, security researchers dismiss idea

Gregg Keizer
Computer World
November 18, 2009

The National Security Agency (NSA) worked with Microsoft on the development of Windows 7, an agency official acknowledged yesterday during testimony before Congress.

"Working in partnership with Microsoft and elements of the Department of Defense, NSA leveraged our unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities to enhance Microsoft's operating system security guide without constraining the user to perform their everyday tasks, whether those tasks are being performed in the public or private sector," Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's information assurance director, told the Senate's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security yesterday as part of a prepared statement.

read the rest here

Ahead of Key Global Conference, U.S. Announces Continued Rejection of Land Mine Ban

2009-11-25T21:22:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration has announced it won’t sign an international convention banning land mines. This is the first time the Obama administration has publicly disclosed its position on the Mine Ban Treaty, which bans the use, stockpiling, production or transfer of antipersonnel mines. We speak to Stephen Goose of Human Rights Watch’s arms division and a co-founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.

Transcript Here

Honduras Coup Regime Declares New State of Emergency Prior to Sunday “Election”

2009-11-25T21:18:00.000-08:00

Al Giordano
The Field
November 24, 2009

The Gaceta Oficial, (“Official Gazette”) of the Honduras coup regime is now freshly printed and has three new decrees and two orders restricting freedom of the press, the right to bear arms and officially strips Catholic Father Andres Tamayo of his Honduran citizenship, ordering him expelled from the country (the good Padre left for El Salvador last week).

Here are a few of the regime’s greatest hits from this week’s barrage of repressive decrees which are expressly part of what the coup leaders call an "election" coming up on Sunday:

read the rest here

Saddam options 'discussed a year before Iraq war'

2009-11-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

Gavin Cordon and Sam Marsden,
The Independent
November 24 2009

British officials privately discussed the prospect of "regime change" in Iraq in late 2001 - more than a year before the invasion - the Iraq War inquiry was told today.

Giving evidence on the first day of public hearings, Sir William Patey, a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office official, said the idea of ousting Saddam Hussein had been discussed in an internal FCO paper.

read the rest here

Shhhh! Nuclear Sell-off Underway

2009-11-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

The Harper government's secretive moves to privatize the CANDU reactor maker that you own. First of two.

Amelia Bellamy-Royds
The Tyee
November 25 2009

A leaky nuclear reactor dragged a neglected Crown corporation into the public spotlight this spring. Press releases churned, news media swarmed, and officials were called up to Ottawa to face questions from a Parliamentary committee.

But all the attention on Atomic Energy of Canada's shutdown NRU reactor -- and the resulting global shortage of medical isotopes -- seems to have pushed aside any broad public debate over the federal government's plan to restructure and partially privatize the corporation.

read the rest here

Philippines Bloody for Unionists, But Invest There Says Ottawa

2009-11-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

Canada's government is too quiet on abuses say human rights advocates.

Tom Sandborn
The Tyee
November 25 2009

Why is Canada's government promoting the Philippines as a prime place to invest, even as workers in that nation face abduction, torture and death for trying to organize unions?

Increasingly, that question is being pressed by human rights activists in B.C. and elsewhere in Canada.

In the United States, Walmart and other big apparel firms have sent a critical letter to Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, citing in her country a "pattern of harassment and violence against workers, labour leaders and human rights promoters."

read the rest here

Welcome to the World Youngstown Catholic Worker!

2009-11-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

The Youngstown Catholic Worker Community would like to humbly announce our presence to our brothers and sisters in the CW Movement. We are very anxious to get to know our neighbors and the surrounding community and to encounter Christ in each of them.

We are green in so many, many ways. Please keep us in your prayers as we find our voice. We are anxious to be in contact with all of you and to learn from you. We feel as if we are in touch with the vision of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker, but we know that we are just beginning our journey as a community and how very much we have to learn.

We have strong leadership through Sr Ann McManamon, HM and an energetic core team (many of us who are slowly unpacking our middle class baggage.) Our contact information is on our website (which is in its beginning stages). www.youngstowncatholicworker.wordpress.com

Know that we are inspired and challenged by what we see from other CW communities. We hope to be able to live up to your example and witness.

Thanks and Peace,
Vicki Vicars
Youngstown Dorothy Day House

As Wall Street Posts Record Profits and US Hunger Rate Grows, Robert Scheer Asks: “Where Is the Community Organizer We Elected?”

2009-11-24T15:52:00.000-08:00

A pair of new government reports released this week paint a startling picture more than a year after the economic meltdown. On Tuesday, the New York Comptroller Office said Wall Street profits are set to exceed the record set three years ago. The four largest firms took in $22.5 billion in profits through September. Meanwhile, far more people are going hungry in the United States than previously thought. The Department of Agriculture estimates 50 million Americans, including a quarter of all children, struggled to get enough to eat last year. We speak to veteran journalist Robert Scheer.

Transcript Here

As UC Berkeley Investigates Police Brutality Against Students Protesting Fee Hikes, a Report From Inside the Takeover of Wheeler Hall

2009-11-24T15:41:00.000-08:00

The University of California, Berkeley is investigating allegations of police brutality against students and workers protesting fee hikes and budget cuts last week. 40 students were arrested Friday night after campus police entered Wheeler Hall, which the students had taken over earlier in the day. The students were part of a statewide movement protesting the UC Board of Regents decision to raise tuition by 32 percent. Independent journalist Brandon Jourdan, who was embedded with the students inside the occupied building on Friday, files a report for Democracy Now!

Transcript here

SIX FOUND GUILTY AT WELLMARK BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD TRIAL IN DES MOINES

2009-11-24T15:24:00.000-08:00

Mona Shaw
Des Moines Catholic Worker
November 24 2009

Six of the nine arrested at Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Headquarters were found guilty on Monday, November 23, 2009,in Polk County Court in Des Moines, Iowa. Ed Bloomer, 62, Kirk Brown, 29, Rev. Robert Cook, 66, Frank Cordaro, 58, Mona Shaw, 58, and Leonard Simons, 67, were convicted by a six-member of jury for Criminal Trespass, a simple misdemeanor. (...)

The conviction followed a three-day trial that at times left jurors near tears and nearly applauding following testimony by the defendants. During the trail several defendants told wrenching stories of loved ones they'd lost because they could not afford they care they needed to live. (During the jury selection process, two jurors had disclosed they had Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance and were battling for payment for care for themselves.)

The conviction was somewhat surprising since the judge's instructions to the jury pointed toward an acquittal. The six above along with Renee Espeland, 48, Christine Gaunt, 50, and Frankie Hughes, 11, were arrested on July 27 in the lobby of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield after they stated they were remaining until they were given the company's financial information requested in a letter sent a month earlier.

The defense sought acquittal based on the interplay between two laws in the State of Iowa Code. First, Iowa law stipulates that a person is guilty of trespassing if that person remains on private property "without justification." Second, another Iowa law stipulates that the policy holder of a company may have access to corporate records at any time. This law also allows for the policy holder to bring assistants to gather those records. Two of the original defendants (Espeland and Gaunt) are policy holders of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. William Price, the judge in the case seemed inclined to give the defendants the fairest trial possible under the law and gave instructions to the jury that could clearly lead to the acquittal of the defendants. Specific in the judge's instructions was that unless the jury believed beyond a reasonable doubt "the defendants did NOT enter Wellmark with the intent to assist a policy holder in exercising the policyholder's
right inspect business records," they must find the defendants NOT guilty.

Ironically charges against Espeland the morning of the trial because the State believed Espeland did have a legal right to be there. (Christine Gaunt had filed a guilty plea in October because she could not be available the dates of the trial.

It was revealed in the trial that Fusion (the State and Federal Homeland Security, Intelligence, and Law Enforcement Center) had, for some time been monitoring the activities of Des Moines Catholic Workers and had been in ongoing communication with Wellmark executives about the defendants.

At sentencing each of the defendants expressed grief for the lives lost because of the State's complicity in preventing the defendants' access to the information essential to save those lives. Defendant Frank Cordaro punctuated the rabid greed of health insurance companies and their strangle-hold on Congress by singing a verse of "Money Makes the World Go 'Round" from the musical Cabaret.

At sentencing, the State pointedly recommended the heaviest consequences including ten times the minimum fine or $625 plus court costs for Cook and Simons and the maximum fine allowed by law for Bloomer, Brown, Cordaro and Shaw of thirty days in jail.

The Judge, however, sentenced all defendants to a $150 fine. Plus court costs. When Bloomer and Cordaro told they judge they would not pay their fines, both were given 72 hours in jail. Following the sentence, the judge informed Bloomer and Cordaro that he could not order their prescriptions be administered because the county jail is now privatized and no longer under Court authority for such matters.

101,000 people die annually due to lack of access to healthcare. Pending legislation in Congress still fails to make a dent in that massive loss of life, although it increases the profits of private
health insurance immensely.

The Des Moines Catholic Worker continues to hold its weekly vigil before the entrance to Wellmark Blue Cross Shield every Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will continue to do until all have equal access to the same healthcare regardless of their ability to pay for it. The DMCW also resists laws that criminalize those who do not purchase private insurance.

Blackwater’s Secret War in Pakistan

2009-11-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

Jeremy Scahill Reveals Private Military Firm Operating in Pakistan Under Covert Assassination and Kidnapping Program

In an explosive new article in The Nation magazine, investigative journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill reveals the private military firm Blackwater is part of a covert program in Pakistan that includes planning the assassination and kidnapping of Taliban and Al-Qaeda suspects. Blackwater is also said to be involved in a previously undisclosed U.S. military drone campaign that has killed scores of people inside Pakistan. The article says the program has become so secretive that top Obama administration and military officials have likely been unaware of its existence. In a Democracy Now! exclusive, Scahill joins us for his first interview since the story broke.

Transcript Here